Tonight I decided to change the LCD screens in my dash cluster. I recently swapped white leds into the cluster and the screens are WAY too bright. I couldn't find a how-to on here for the cluster removal, so I took a few pics along the way. One of the nice things about this....all of the screws you take out are the same. you don't have to worry about keeping them separate.

tools needed to remove the cluster
- phillips screwdriver
- patience

1) remove the drivers side kick panel. It just pulls out from the side of the truck. I just pulled mine out a little since you don't need to remove the whole thing.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0127002.jpg

2) remove the trim piece directly above the kick panel. It just pulls out. I also pulled the weatherstripping away to get a better look at it.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0127003.jpg

3) remove the lower dash piece. There are 2 screws at the bottom, one on each side of the steering wheel. Pull the lower dash piece away completely. I KNOW, I still need loom up the wires in this pic.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0127004.jpg

4) remove the a pillar handle. pop the caps off each end and unscrew. the screws don't come out of the handle completely.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0127005.jpg

5) remove the a pillar. it just pulls away like the kick panel did.

6) remove the trim ring around the ignition. it just pops off
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0127006.jpg

7) remove the upper dash piece. there are 3 screws, one on each side of the steering wheel, and one on the left side near the door. Lower your steering wheel to the lowest position. Pull out and up and lift the upper dash away.

8) remove the 4 screws around the gauge cluster. Unclip the cluster from the harness and you're done!
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0127007.jpg

Tools needed to swap the LCD to negative.
- polarized film ($10+shipping purchased from here http://store.garage1217.com/polarized-film.html ) the small is PLENTY of film
- straight slot screwdriver (to get the cluster open)
- fork (for removing the needles)
- Camera or tape and a felt pen (for marking the position of the needles BEFORE you remove them)
- razor blade (to peel the old film off)
- scissors (u gotta cut the film, duh)
- rubbing alcohol or googone (to get old film residue off)

1) open up gauge cluster. there are 6 tabs (the black ones in the pic) around the outside of the cluster. they are a pain in the dumper, but will come open eventually. I ended up breaking 1 of them. you will need to either peel the factory security sticker off, or cut it. some people have said that theirs just peeled back no problem but mine ripped in half. oh well. once the tabs are open, remove the front of the cluster. DON'T LOSE THE TRIP COMPUTER PIN! it will probably fall out.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0127008.jpg

2) Mark your gauge positions. this is EXTREMELY important! Once you pull the needles off, you have to put them back on EXACTLY where they were before otherwise your gauges won't be accurate. you can use a piece of blue painters tape/masking tape and a felt tip marker OR you can just take a close up pic of each one like this.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128003.jpg

3) remove the needles. Be careful with this one and GO SLOW! you don't want to break one of these, they are VERY fragile. I actually used a fork underneath the base of the needle and just slowly pried them up. it will take some effort but they pop STRAIGHT up.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128004.jpg

4) remove the LCD screens. very easy, just loosen the tiny clips and pull straight up. be careful with the pins. they are also very fragile.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128005.jpg

5) remove the polarized film already on the LCD's. just use a razor and peel from a corner. go slow and easy like you are peeling off a window sticker.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128006.jpg

6) clean the LCD. i used googone but I have heard that rubbing alcohol works best.

7) cut the new polarized film. measure it out to fit just like the old one did. here are 2 pics of the same film. one is just turned 90 degrees.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128007.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128009.jpg

8) apply the sticky side of the film onto the LCD. Try to keep the air bubbles out like if you were putting a screen protector on your phone.

9) replace completed LCD back into cluster. Again, be careful with the pins!
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128010.jpg

10) do the other side.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128011.jpg

11) put everything back together! you might want to clean the inside of the clear cover of the cluster. Mine had dust in it. Make sure you don't leave any fingerprints in there either, otherwise it will drive you street rat crazy.

12) enjoy your new custom LCD's!

BEFORE
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/whiteledwhitegauges.jpg
lights on
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128020.jpg
truck running
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/deltaphi216/Xterra%20pics/Gauge%20cluster%20swap/TempPics2010_0128021.jpg

Nice job man!

dang!! looks great!!

nice looks clean.

noticed a bit of surface rust there behind the cluster. is this normal? i just changed out my head unit and saw some of the same, got me a bit worried.

Holy crap you are brave! Thanks for the how to

Nicely done :thumbup:

Wow, me likey!

Noice!

You got stones man. I won't be trying anything like that 'til she's paid for.

thanks for the compliments! This was no big deal after the led swap. that took some stones! as for the surface rust, that's no big deal. all of the metal behind the dash has it.

WOW ... Very Cool .... Where did you get the polarized film and the white dials ?

Is your tire pressure light on all the time? Im suprised you didn't try to block that out from the back side while you had the cluster out. Im assuming they are LEDs so you can't just pull a bulb. Would be so much easier.

no, just when it's cold. reminds me that i need to get air tomorrow morning.

WOW ... Very Cool .... Where did you get the polarized film and the white dials ?
for the gauges $19.99 w/ free shipping.
http://www.whitegauges.net/products/2005%252d2007-Xterra-Pathfinder-Frontier-White-Face-Gauges-05%252d07.html

for the polarized film $10 plus $5-ish shipping.
http://store.garage1217.com/polarized-film.html

I like the reversed LCDs a lot ... I've always thought that was a really trick effect, I didn't realize they did it with polarizers.

Incidentally, with as many times as you've had the cluster in and out, did you ever have any issues with the mileage display (either the primary or the trip meters)?

I wonder what It would look like with the orange lights in there?

the primary mileage is stored in the cluster...the trip meters reset everytime it's unplugged.

w/ the orange, the background would be much darker and the numbers would be the amber color of the dash.

the reason there is a bluish tint is from the bright white leds. it's like a tv w/ the brightness turned all the way up...black turns a shade of blue

Very nice! I did the reverse lcd to my car a couple of years ago. You don't have to get more film... I just peeled mine off with a razor blade, cleaned the sticky stuff off of the film, flipped it over and put everything back together. Worked like a charm :) nice work!
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this stuff is on there pretty good. mine ripped on both of them as i was peeling.

Very nice job.I'm curious as to how you got the blue halo ring around the ignition.I'm very interested in that, as well as changing all the bulbs over to LEDs inside.

i just cut off the incandescent bulb and wired in 2 5mm blue led's w/ resistors already attached. i just shoved them in the hole from the bulb and moved them around until they looked like that. easy peasy.

here are the led's i bought
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380179472681

i just cut off the incandescent bulb and wired in 2 5mm blue led's w/ resistors already attached. i just shoved them in the hole from the bulb and moved them around until they looked like that. easy peasy.

here are the led's i bought
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380179472681

So all you did was wire in the LEDs to + and -? Since the resistors were already wired into the bulbs?

that is correct...worked like a charm!

So that blueish color is the natural color you got from the polarized film, and white leds?
Can you do the stereo display with that film too?

blueish color, yep!

stereo display...i don't see any reason why not. You need to get the face of the radio off. once that's off, see if you can peel the old polarized film off. just make sure that when you put the new stuff on, you turn it 90 degrees. that way the screen will show the opposite info.

i just cut off the incandescent bulb and wired in 2 5mm blue led's w/ resistors already attached. i just shoved them in the hole from the bulb and moved them around until they looked like that. easy peasy.

here are the led's i bought
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380179472681

i want to change the color of the ring around the ignition and i was looking at it yesterday and i snapped a pic of it. did you take the black piece off or anything? i cant figure it out. i was starting to take that bolt out that holds the black piece on but i figured it would suck to get back on so i snapped a pic and thought id wait for some input from someone whose done it.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j190/sahearn04/truck%20stuff/IMAG0383.jpg

mine had a pair of wires underneath that fed into the unit. those wires had a bulb that fit into a socket. I snipped off the bulb and fed 3 prewired 5mm leds into the socket. i don't have any pics. sorry. get underneath and look up at it. you should see what i mean.

alright, thanks man. ill have to take another look. you put the 3 LEDs in the one hole from the bulb?

yep, because the leds are directional whereas the bulb shines in all directions. 3 leds gave it enough light to look good.

ok. thanks again. ill tackle this next warm day we get.

Just to provide an alternative option...

I mixed it up a bit on mine and put a touch of blue on the oil and battery gauges. Frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about the blue--but the overall, it's a lot better than the orange!

http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa397/vatech03/IMG_2617.jpg

looking good!